There's a rather disturbing news item just appeared in Musical Traditions , courtesy of Mike Yates.

It concerns a bootleg recording of English and Scots traditional singers, called Under the Hills and Nearby, to which banjo accompaniment has been added to the unaccompanied singing.

This act of piracy has been perpetrated by somebody calling himself Sam Callow, which is almost certainly a nom de plume. Think of the title and think of Over the Hills and Far Away. Then think of Sam Callow and Sam Cowell.

In a footnote to Mike's piece, Rod Stradling points out that this creep lives in France, and suggests that he may consider himself safe from prosecution under French copyright law.

I can assure him that he isn't. I can also assure him that residence in France doesn't render him immune to a bunch of fives either.